1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an antenna ornament having a generally planar body including a surface area to display various caricatures, slogans, and the like reflective of individual personality traits and inclinations, particularly for use on vehicle antennas.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various vehicle antenna ornaments have been utilized as novelty items to indicate allegiance to various colleges and professional sporting teams, to personalize the vehicle, to enhance the stylistic potential of the vehicle, or to indicate participation in a procession such as a funeral motorcade. More practically, antenna ornaments have been used to enable an owner or operator to readily spot the vehicle in a crowded parking lot.
The vehicle antenna ornament generally comprises a display part bearing ornamentation and a securement part for securing the ornament to the vehicle antenna. A large variety of rigid and flexible, two dimensional and three dimensional vehicle antenna ornament designs have been set forth in the prior art, and various mechanisms have been developed for securement of the display part to an associated vehicle antenna. However, these securement mechanisms have heretofore had a relatively complex or awkward structure. Further, these vehicle antenna ornaments are generally bulky, taking up much display space at the point-of-sale, thus limiting the variety of vehicle antenna ornaments which can be displayed in a given area, and reducing the profit per given display area.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,067 (Currie) teaches an antenna signal device, the body of which includes a tab member foldable about an upper end of the antenna to define a "U" shaped securement portion. The body further includes spaced parallel slots for receiving a flexible line to mount the apparatus to the antenna. Additional hooks, loops, straps, and slots may be included to enhance securement of the device to the antenna. Such a vehicle antenna ornament is cumbersome, is awkward to install, and does not look professional or aerodynamic when mounted on an antenna.
A variety of ornaments have been devised which are simple to install, generally having a tubular shape with a central cavity for receiving an antenna, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,588. However, these devices present a large cross section area to the wind, generally at or near the top of the vehicle antenna, and thus tend to cause excessive bowing of the antenna at speed.
Although flag or banner type ornaments tend to have a relatively low coefficient of drag, one of the major problems associated with the use of flag or banner type antenna ornaments is their susceptibility to wind currents. For example, it is not unusual for pennants to shred due to the severe flapping they are prone to. The prior art has addressed this problem by means of a wind deflection device. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,431 (Debosz) teaches a wind deflection device which snaps onto and grips a vehicle antenna bearing a pennant, and functions to reduce the action of wind upon the pennant. A problem inherent in this approach is that it requires the mounting of a supplemental part onto the antenna in order to adequately protect the ornament from damage by the wind, trading away simplicity for longevity of the ornament. Further, by deflecting wind, the device increases drag and causes bowing of the antenna when the vehicle is moving at a high rate of speed.
Yet another problem associated with such antenna ornaments as banners and pennants is that, to be decipherable, they require wind to animate them. Too much wind causes excessive flapping, making these types of ornaments difficult to decipher by the casual observer. Further, vehicles are often parked and, when in such a state, the banners and pendants are collapsed and illegible. This problem is particularly well known to scuba divers who are required to display a dive flag while diving. Such a flag is visible and legible only when wind is blowing. To overcome this problem, many plastic dive flags are provided with a wire which must be straightened each time a dive flag is unfurled. However, these wires break easily and plastic dive flags tend to have a short life. Further, dive flags are generally provided with two eyelets, and require string or rope to be secured to a mast, generally a marine radio antenna. A diver will frequently forget to bring string, and thus will not be able to tie the flag to the antenna. Further, if the flag is tied to the antenna, it is difficult to untie the flag, and thus the mounting strings are either cut or the flag is left mounted when it should be lowered. There is a need for a dive flag which can be easily installed to and removed from a marine radio antenna, which presents a dive emblem even in an absence of wind, which dive flag requires no maintenance, has long life, is simple and economical to manufacture, and easy to operate.
There is thus a need for an antenna ornament that inherently resists the action of wind currents upon the ornament, that has a low coefficient of drag, that is constantly displaying the ornamentation, and nevertheless is economical to manufacture, intuitively simple to understand and install, and refined in appearance once installed.
Accordingly, what is needed is an antenna ornament which overcomes the above deficiencies and provides a means for enhancing the individuality, distinctiveness, and stylistic potential of a vehicle, or any antenna-bearing device, such as a portable radio.